So this was my first view of ...... the BUS ...... isn't it gorgeous !

There are apparently 3 Kids in Parks busses with a couple of drivers that do the rounds of all the SANParks that are doing KiP that year .... Our bus driver was called Oom Bassier ( my apologies if it's spelt wrong - I'm going phonetically here ) and a very nice man he was too - with the patience of Job by the way

After being dropped off at GBP and left to wander around, I decided to take a drive up to Kamqua and have me some lunch ... it was hot and very quiet and I didn't see an awful lot except a very large amount of eland carcasses - the lions had been having a ball .... After lunch another slow drive back and just past Auchterlonie I met up with the bus, did a smart u turn and followed them home ....

The bus pulled up to the dorms where Oom Bassier disgorged his very excitable cargo and they unpacked the bus and got their sleeping places sorted and rearranged as only kids can. The bunk beds are green metal and EXTREMELY heavy as Mariska and I found out when we had to dismantle one and then manhandle it through the doorway of the girls dorm and into the boys one ..... and then we had to assemble it again ..... luckily Jannie Bok, our fabulous ranger from Nossob who was helping for the week, came along with a hammer and proceeeded to klap it together for us .....

Some of the boys .... ( and a girl or 2 ..)

and ...... the BUS in all its glory .... ( The only thing that REALLY bothered me was the .... tiger ... painted on the side of the bus ?? ) really ??? ...

After a quick talk by Henriette we left them to unpack and get settled and we made our way back to HQ where the delicious aroma of supper was wafting through the doors ..

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

One of the first activities the kids got to do was called Solitaire – with our intrepid ranger Jannie Bok leading the way we all climbed to the top of the dune behind the camp ....

Jannie Bok made the kids wait until he had reached the top so he could do a good recce and make sure there weren’t any big things with nasty fangs hiding over the dune waiting to chomp us all ( or at the very least scare us horribly) ...... and when he told us it was all clear we made our way to the top ...

Once up there the kids divided up into small groups and were given a worksheet – the idea was to sit very quietly and look and listen – and then put their thoughts and feelings down on paper .....

And now I please need the page to turn cause I can't post any more photos on this one .....

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

Only excuse is that we just got back from saying goodbye to Aaron and Lorena - they leave tomorrow for home .... so sad ..... after 14 months of amazing times with them we had to say goodbye over really yummy pizzas

But I digress ....

Friends backs made good tables to write on .....

And there was some posing for the camera ....

These photos might look like we had 10 seasons in one day .... its just that I’m putting together shots of all the different 4 groups to give you all a taste of a typical day – so if the kids change in the photos, that’s why !!!

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

Thanks SHAKYJAKES, Dotty, Leana, Matthys and Gavin for all helping to turn the page - don't want to clog it up with too many photos and make things difficult for folk to read

Hugh - thank you too !! And honestly, I'm sure you would cope well. There's some Afrikaans required for the "teaching" part (coming up today) but its not hard and I promise that after you have done the same thing 4 times in a row, you'll be fluent ( well, at least you'll know your bit off by heart ) ...

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

" Die kammeldoringboom word gesien as die sleutelspesie van die Kalahari - dit beteken dat baie ander .... blah blah blah " Nuff said I take it you had the fun of that one too - I did balk at doing the "Sand sand korreljies sand" one though - it looked way too complicated witht he magma and stuff for me to get my Engelse tong around

Last edited by Scouter on Tue Sep 18, 2012 10:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

WE DID !!!!! And I can tell you ( well, maybe not YOU Jannie cause you will know it all already ) but I now know a LOT more about tree-rats ( cute little b*ggers) and sociable weavers and cobras and leopards, and pygmy falcons and even a few random facts about white backed vultures and Giant eagle owls

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

Ha ha, had to bully Scipio into doing some of that too... Oh, and I learned how long a giraffe's tongue are

Jannie, it was so much fun, and really also a learning experience for me too. I can now name most of the trees, and a lot of grass in the Kgalagadi, that I wouldn't have been able to, as well as some really interesting facts about some animal and bird species.

(Oh, and I even know how much water is held by the containers on the dune right behind the camp, and how long it takes to fix the sunpowered waterpump )

Yes, we had Jannie Bok. What a great guy, and so alert. He will not let you move unless he inspected the area thoroughly, we were very impressed by how serious and alert he was the whole time we were not in the camp grounds. He is such an asset to the Kgalagadi, and Nossob camp is very privilege to have him there

Reading their booklets afterwards it seemed like they were mostly excited about being in the park ( some had been last year but for a lot of them it was their first time) but also a bit scared and most were missing their mom or their dad or their dogs !!! And as they had to draw a picture on the back we could see that some were really talented artists too.....

So I’ve mentioned Jannie Bok before right ..... he is a ranger that was kindly on loan to us from Brent up at Nossob – he was there for my first week then unfortunately ( for us, not for him ) he had to go off the 2nd week and fly backwards and forwards over the park in a teeny tiny plane for a week doing a game count with a pilot who sounded like he had a very warped sense of humour - but then he was back for Petra and Scipio’s week and I know they enjoyed having him around ....

Here he is, standing guard while the kids were on the dune ...

Everywhere we went, Jannie Bok came too – his trusty R1 always at the ready the minute we walked out the gates of Gemsbokplein .....

This one is for Meneer Rikki from Philandersbron School – he said to me “please take a photo of me with the ranger and his rifle “ ...... Henriette will send a CD to the schools with all the photos we took of each group, so Mnr Rikki will get his photo

Down the dune again and back to camp... I couldn’t resist the beautiful sunset ....

Supper was a lekker savoury mince with rice – thanks Toya ! We dished up, the kids washed their own plates and cutlery and cups and then we checked them and re-dried them .... the one group of kids tried to cut corners and brought their plates back still covered in food but Jannie B was extra vigilant and sent them all back to re-wash them – and after that we had no more dirty plates coming back ... ( BTW Mariska and I worked out that in the 2 weeks we dried over 1200 plates and mugs and slightly fewer knives and forks – they had sarmies for lunch so no cutlery – yay !)

After supper Henriette did a stunning power point presentation for the kids on the animals and birds in the park and how they adapt and why some antelope have horns and lots of other fascinating things ... some of the first group passed out on the tables fast asleep – there were some Grade 4’s and they were shattered ..... They were loaded back into the bus and carted off the few hundred meters back to their dorms ( can’t have them walking in the dark – they might get eaten !!!) The genny was switched off just after 10 and eventually silence descended on the land once again .... Day one was done and dusted .......

Last edited by Scouter on Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never the same ...

Boy, oh boy, does this bring back memories!! Luckily we don't have long to wait, we'll be helping again from 16 -26 October. Can't wait! This is such a magical experience and I still can't figure out who gets the most out of it, us or the kids!